Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a heat storage and dissipation system for a vehicle.
Background Art
The present inventors have already disclosed in Patent Literature 1 (WO 2015/050269) and Non Patent Literature 1 (S Ohkoshi et al, “External stimulation-controllable heat-storage ceramics”, Nature Communications 6, 2015, Article number: 7037, Doi: 10.1038/ncomms8037) a new type of titanium oxide (hereinafter also referred to as a “new titanium oxide”) having a composition of Ti3O5, but having a crystal structure which is different from that of a known titanium oxide.
The crystal structure of the new titanium oxide makes phase transition into a monoclinic λ phase having metallic properties in a temperature region lower than about 460 K. The crystal structure of the new titanium oxide further makes a characteristic phase. That is, when the phase of the crystal structure is a λ-phase, the λ-phase is kept even when the temperature of the new titanium oxide is lowered to below about 460 K. On the other hand, when a pressure higher than a predetermined pressure is applied to the new titanium oxide, the crystal structure makes phase transition into a β-phase from the λ-phase. Moreover, after the phase transition into the β-phase, when the temperature of the new titanium oxide is increased to a temperature higher than about 460 K, or when the new titanium oxide is irradiated with light for heat dissipation having a particular wavelength, crystal structure makes phase transition into the λ-phase from the β-phase.
In addition, the new titanium oxide exhibits interesting thermal properties during the phase transition. That is, the new titanium oxide releases heat outside during the phase transition from the λ-phase to the β-phase, whereas absorbs outside heat during the phase transition from the β-phase to the λ-phase. Patent Literature 1 discloses a heat storage and dissipation system for utilizing such thermal properties comprising: a heat storage apparatus that supplies heat to a heat storage/dissipation material in a liquid form; a heat dissipation apparatus that allows the heat storage/dissipation material to release heat to an engine utilizing the heat; and a flow channel connecting between the heat storage apparatus and the heat dissipation apparatus.
However, the heat storage and dissipation system disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is not intended for use in vehicles with an internal combustion engine. Therefore, there is still room to investigate specific configurations of the system in order to use the system for such vehicles.
The present disclosure addresses the above-described problem and has an object to provide a heat storage and dissipation system using the thermal properties of the new titanium oxide for vehicles with an internal combustion engine.